UL vs MKC vs SJM Stock Comparison

Unilever, Mccormick and J M Smucker Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
UL Unilever Plc
$66.22 +6.5% 1M -5.5% 1Y
Market cap
$143.34B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$64.28B
Div. yield
–
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
3 wins
MKC Mccormick & Co Inc
$48.13 -2.0% 1M -28.6% 1Y
Market cap
$12.93B
P/E
8.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.69B
Div. yield
0.04%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
7 wins
SJM J M SMUCKER Co
$130.04 +6.3% 1M +26.8% 1Y
Market cap
$13.74B
P/E
59.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.16B
Div. yield
0.03%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mccormick leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Mccormick 7, Unilever 3, J M Smucker 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionULMKCSJMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $143.34B $12.93B $13.74B UL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only — 8.7x 59.8x MKC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.3x 16.4x 11.5x SJM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -2.6% +13.2% +5.1% MKC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 19.4% 2.5% MKC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 6.0% 3.6% MKC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.6x 4.9x MKC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.04% 0.03% MKC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -5.5% -28.6% +26.8% SJM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.9%/yr -9.8%/yr +1.1%/yr UL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 24.9% 31.4% 28.7% UL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 19/100 72/100 57/100 MKC

Percentile Scorecard

ULMKCSJM

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisULMKCSJM
Valuation 0 #45 of 45 61 #18 of 45 57 #20 of 45
Growth – 83 #8 of 42 93 #4 of 42
Profitability – 92 #4 of 40 80 #9 of 40
Financial Health 41 #28 of 47 52 #23 of 47 28 #34 of 47
Shareholder Returns 17 #26 of 31 70 #10 of 31 27 #23 of 31
Overall 19 72 57
  • UL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • MKC ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • SJM ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodULMKCSJMSPY
1 month +6.5%-2.0%+6.3% -1.0%
3 months +8.6%-3.6%+9.9% +2.9%
6 months +13.9%-6.6%+35.4% +6.4%
Year to date +1.3%-29.3%+33.0% +11.4%
1 year -5.5%-28.6%+26.8% +13.1%
3 years +21.3%-22.7%+15.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +6.6%-8.2%+4.9% +21.5%
5 years +9.6%-40.4%+5.7% +67.7%
5 years, per year +1.9%-9.8%+1.1% +10.9%
10 years +38.4%+2.9%+0.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +3.3%+0.3%+0.0% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureULMKCSJMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 24.9%31.4%28.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.3%34.4%25.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.03-0.34-0.28 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.22-0.910.93 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.2%-57.7%-44.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.2%-32.8%-2.5% -2.5%
52-week high $74.59$71.65$133.40 $779.14
52-week low $55.05$44.15$89.53 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleULMKCSJM
P/E now vs peer median —median 20.7x 8.7xmedian 20.7x 60.5xmedian 20.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 0.7x 1.7xmedian 0.7x 1.5xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 12.4x 13.5xmedian 12.4x 15.0xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 14.0x 14.0xmedian 14.0x 8.7xmedian 14.0x
P/B now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 1.5x 1.7xmedian 1.5x 2.4xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.42 0.27median 0.42 0.30median 0.42

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsULMKCSJM
Revenue $64.28B $7.69B $9.16B
Gross profit – $3.00B $3.54B
Operating income – $1.03B $826.20M
Net income – $1.51B $229.50M
Free cash flow – $925.90M $1.59B
EPS (diluted) – $5.53 $2.14
Cash & equivalents $5.40B $331.10M $43.20M
Total debt $112.81B $5.02B $6.74B
Shares (diluted) 2.20B 269.40M 107.10M
Enterprise value $94.79B $12.00B $13.52B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricULMKCSJM
P/E – 8.7x 60.5x
P/FCF – 14.0x 8.7x
P/Operating cash flow – 11.4x 7.3x
P/S 2.2x 1.7x 1.5x
P/B 7.8x 1.7x 2.4x
P/Tangible book -92.6x 4.9x 110.4x
EV/EBITDA – 13.5x 15.0x
EV/EBIT – 17.1x 24.9x
EV/Revenue 2.5x 2.3x 2.2x
EV/FCF – 19.1x 13.0x
EV/Operating cash flow – 15.5x 10.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.27 0.30

Growth

14 metrics
MetricULMKCSJM
Revenue growth (1Y) -2.6% 13.2% 5.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 147.1% 5.2% 2.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 15.7% 15.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 7.4% 6.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -3.2% 184.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 3.5% 43.2%
Net income growth (1Y) – 93.3% 115.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 32.7% 147.2%
EPS growth (1Y) – 91.5% 131.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 32.2% 200.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 29.8% 86.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 2.4% 9.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 41.3% 136.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 5.9% 20.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricULMKCSJM
Gross margin – 39.1% 38.7%
EBITDA margin – 17.0% 15.0%
Operating margin – 13.4% 9.0%
Pretax margin – 10.8% 4.6%
Net margin – 19.4% 2.5%
FCF margin – 12.0% 17.3%
Operating cash flow margin – 14.8% 20.9%
Return on equity – 19.0% 4.1%
Return on assets – 8.7% 1.4%
Return on invested capital – 6.0% 3.6%
Return on capital employed – 8.5% 5.9%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 0.8x 8.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.6% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricULMKCSJM
Debt / assets 31.2% 30.1% 41.6%
Debt / equity 1.5x 0.7x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.6x 4.9x
Debt / FCF – 5.4x 4.2x
Liabilities / assets 79.0% 54.4% 64.5%
Equity / assets 21.0% 45.6% 35.5%
Interest coverage – 4.6x –
Current ratio 0.7x 0.7x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.3x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score – 1.82 1.52

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricULMKCSJM
Dividend yield 3.2% 4.0% 3.4%
Net buyback yield – -0.1% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 3.9% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 33.6% 203.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 54.8% 29.4%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 6.9% 2.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 7.1% 2.8%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusULMKCSJM
Forward P/E 19.3xFY2026 16.4xFY2026 11.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.44FY2026 $2.93FY2026 $11.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -6.0%FY2026 -2.3%FY2026 +23.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.1% +11.9% -8.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $55.09BFY2026 $7.53BFY2026 $9.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -8.2%FY2026 +10.1%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.7% +12.6% -2.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersULMKCSJM
Held by institutions 11.8% 88.9% 43.8%
Institutions holding 1,190 948 887
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.2% +4.8% -2.8%
Institutions buying 576 478 493
Institutions selling 440 342 260
Buyers to sellers 1.31 1.40 1.90

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ULMKCSJM
UL 1.00 0.46 0.38
MKC 0.46 1.00 0.46
SJM 0.38 0.46 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, UL, MKC and SJM?

Unilever (UL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Unilever (UL) $143.34B, Mccormick (MKC) $12.93B, J M Smucker (SJM) $13.74B.

Which stock is cheaper, UL, MKC and SJM?

Mccormick (MKC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mccormick (MKC) 8.7x, J M Smucker (SJM) 59.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, J M Smucker (SJM) is cheapest (Unilever (UL) 19.3x, Mccormick (MKC) 16.4x, J M Smucker (SJM) 11.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mccormick (MKC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Unilever (UL) -2.6%, Mccormick (MKC) +13.2%, J M Smucker (SJM) +5.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mccormick (MKC) has the highest net margin (Mccormick (MKC) 19.4%, J M Smucker (SJM) 2.5%). On return on invested capital, Mccormick (MKC) leads (Mccormick (MKC) 6.0%, J M Smucker (SJM) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year J M Smucker (SJM) returned the most: Unilever (UL) -5.5%, Mccormick (MKC) -28.6%, J M Smucker (SJM) +26.8%. Over five years, Unilever (UL) compounded fastest (Unilever (UL) +1.9%/yr, Mccormick (MKC) -9.8%/yr, J M Smucker (SJM) +1.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Mccormick (MKC) has the highest dividend yield: Unilever (UL) 0.00%, Mccormick (MKC) 0.04%, J M Smucker (SJM) 0.03%. Unilever (UL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Unilever (UL) has been the steadiest (Unilever (UL) 24.9%, Mccormick (MKC) 31.4%, J M Smucker (SJM) 28.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, UL, MKC and SJM?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mccormick (MKC) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.